I would like to second Sobel's "Longitude". Absolutely fascinating and very well written. I would also like to recommend a historical novel that I dearly love. Frank Delaney's "Ireland: A Novel". I've read quite a few books about various eras in Irish history and while this is obviously fiction, I have never run across a more enjoyable tale that captures the true story-telling tradition and explores the mythology as well as the history of this nation. A real joy. Another great book that spans the oceans is Kurlansky's "Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World".

Posted at June 10, 2005 12:03 PM in response to More History Books